Method of making a container



ly 27, 1937- P. WITTE I METHOD OF" MAKING A CONTAINER Filed April 5. 1935 INVENTOR Patented July 27, 1937 METHOD oFMAKmc A-ooNTAINEa Paul Witte, New Milford, N. J., assignor to White Metals Manufacturing Company, Hoboken, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application April 3, 1935, Serial No. 14,467

3 Claims. This invention relates to an improved containe er similar to the collapsible tubes customarily usedior dental cream, shaving soap and like somewhat plastic or semi-liquid substances. Ordinarily,.such collapsible tubes or containers have heretofore been made of relatively ductile metal, such as lead, block tin, or aluminum.

It is well known to those skilled in the art that tubes of this general character Tare producible from disc-like slugs or blanks which are adapted to be fed to the die of a press having a plunger which cooperates with the die so as to form a. tube about the plunger, the metal of the slug or disc being extruded by the coaiction of the plunger and die.

Tubes heretofore made, of metal such as lead, tin, or aluminum are satisfactory for various uses.

The lead tubes are probably the least expensive to manufacture. IBut lead is unsatisfactory for dispensing of many substances. On the other hand, block tin and aluminumare relatively expenslve. Insofar as I am aware, there has been no satisfactory substitute for materials such as tin or aluminum for the dispensing of dental creams, shaving soap and cosmetic preparations. Therefore, the cost of the relatively expensive metal containers constitutes a material factor in the price of the product. Competition is keen and any saving that can be effected in the cost of the tube orcontainer without sacrificing its suitability for the particular material dispensed is highly desirable. Relatively soft metal, such as lead, is less expensive than the harder metals,'tin and aluminum. The containers are frequently provided with screw threaded closure caps, fitted to the necks thereof. The threads on the necks of the containers can be more readily cut or chased when the neck is of tin than when it is of lead. Moreover, the tin being relatively harder than lead provides a thread structure which can better resist wear. r

My invention contemplates an improved coner having a composite metallic body, portions of which are of relatively hard metal and other portions of which are of relatively softer metal.

- For example, the neck of the container which is adapted to be threaded can be of tin and the body can beof lead, or the body may have a leaden interior stratum and inner and outer strata of tin. The neck could. be aluminum and other portions of the body of lead with inner and outer strata of aluminum.

The invention also contemplates a new method of production of a composite metallic tube or container, which involves the steps of forming a compositeslug or disc-like.b1ank of somewhat dif feringmetals and then subjecting such slug to an extrusion operation by means of a plunger and die so as to form the container about the plunger in such a manner that the dispensing end or neck 5 portion of the container will be relatively hard metal, whereas the body or tubular portion will be of the softer metal. Or the slug or blank may be so formed that it has an axial core of relatively hard metal such as tin, which is surrounded by a 10 softer metal such as lead and in which the upper 1 and lower strata of the slug or blank are also of the hard metal, such as tin, such upper and lower strata merging with the axial core.

For a more complete detailed disclosure of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawing, in which- Fig. 1 is a vertical section through the upper portion of a collapsible tube of composite metalvlic form embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a fol-metallic blank or slug from which the tube is adapted to be formed; 'Fig. gis an enlarged plan view of such a blank withgga portion broken away; Fig. 4 is a cross section of the blank shown in Fig. 3; Figs. 5 25 and 6 are views illustrating steps in the method of forming the ,blank into a tube; Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. l'illu'strating a'tube in which the neck portion only is formed of relatively hard metal such as tin and the remainder of the 30 tube is made of relatively softer metal such as lead; Fig. 8 is a cross section of the blank or slug in which the tube of Fig. 7 is adapted to be formed; Fig. 9 is a slightly modified form of slug.

Referring in detail to the drawing, it repre- 5 sents a collapsible tube in which the neck portion it is formed of relatively hard metal, such as tin or aluminum. The main body of the tube includes an inner stratum it of a softer metal, such as lead, which has inner and outer strata no it and it, respectively, of tin or aluminum. The tube of Fig. 1 can be readily produced according to my invention by providing a compo= site blank such as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, which consists of a substantially axial or central 45 core till of relatively hard metal, such as block tin, or aluminum, which is surrounded by an annular body 22 of relatively soft metal such as lead. Upper and lower strata 2d audit constitute the top and bottom surfaces of the slug and 50 2 these strata merge into the tin core 20.

Such a composite or bimetallic slug is fed to the cavity 28 of a die til of a tube forming ma- 2 chine of known construction which is usually provided with a reciprocating plunger 32. On the 5 downstroke of the plunger, thepiercing extremity 34 thereof strikes the core 20 of the slug and starts the formation of a center hole therein and continued downward movement of the plunger causes a flow of the bi-metallic slug and thus by an extrusion process forms the dispensing neck portion II of hard metal and the softer body of the hollow container around the exterior of the plunger substantially as indicated in Fig. 6. Y

The product'resulting from this operation is in the nature of the composite or bi-metallic tube shown for example in Fig. 1 having the inner body portion of lead and the inner and outer strata of tin with a relatively solid 'tin dispensing neck of reduced diameter which is wellsuited to have threads either cut or chased thereon by known types of tube finishing machines.

Instead of using a blank, such as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, it is also contemplated that I may employ a blank'such as illustrated in Fig. 8 with merely a central core 36 formed for example of tin, or aluminum and an outer annular body of a softer metal, such as lead, as indicated at 38. When such a blank or slug is subjected to the action of the plunger and die the resulting tube, as shown in Fig. 8, will have a dispensing neck portion 40 of hard metal, such as tin and a body 42 of relatively softer metal, such as lead. If desired, the interior of such lead body may be lacquered or covered with other protective coating material designedly intended to protect the contents of the collapsible tube or container from any deleterious effect which lead might have thereon.

The slugs of Figs. 2, 4 and 8 may be formed by casting or alternatively the core, for example of Fig. 8, might be mechanically forced into an opening in the lead portion. Or, as illustrated in Fig. 9, the core 36 might be seated in an undercut recess 31 formed in the lead portion 38. It is also contemplated that in some cases/only one fiat surface of the slug may be oftin with an underlying body of lead and a central core also of lead. In short, instead of the two layers 24 and 26 of Fig. 4, only one such surface layer will be used in some cases.

While I have described specific embodiments of the tube illustrated and suitable steps in the method of forming the same it is to be understood that various modifications or substitutions may be made without departure from the invention as defined in the appended claims.

uuite precisely certain What I claim is:-

1. In the manufacture of collapsible containers having soft metal bodies and relatively harder metal dispensing necks, the method which comprises providing a composite slug with a central bore of a relatively hard metal surrounded by an body of larger diameter, the method which comprises forming a composite slug with a ,central core of relatively hard metal surrounded by an I annular body of softer metal whose upper and lower portions are covered by hard metal integral with said core, confining the slug within the cavity of a die having portions of differential diameter, initially subjecting the core of the slug to mechanical pressure, thus forcing it into the portion of the cavity of reduced diameter, subsequently subjecting the remainder of the. slug to mechanical pressure so as to form the container having a hard metal dispensing neck of reduced diameter and. a tubular body of larger diameter and having a relatively soft metal inner stratum and inner and outer strata of harder metal.

3. In the manufacture of collapsible containers having relatively hard metal dispensing necks and softer metal tubular body portions, the method which comprises forming a disc-like composite slug with upper and lower surface strata and an axial core of relatively hard metal and with a softer metal body between said strata and concentric with the core, placing the composite slug within a die having cavities of relatively large and relatively small diameter, initially subjecting the central portion only of the slug to mechanical pressure so as to force said pprtion into the cavity of smaller diameter, then subjecting the remaining portion of the slug to mechanical pressure, thus forming a bi-metallic container with a relatively hard metal dispensing neck and a body portion of softer metal having an inner and outer strata of hard metal.

PAUL WI'I'I'E. 

